Where can Viruses Live On A Computer?

[RyanZec]

My computer got infected with rogue.palladium and malwarebytes did remove it but this got me thinking. It is possible for a virus/trojan/malware/worm/whatever else there is to live on any other part of my computer or devices attached to it. From what I have read, it is impossible for them to live on DSL modems or routers (is this true?). From my level of knowledge with computer hardware, I would think it would be impossible for them to live in ram when the power get turned off (is this true)? Is there any other places (like mother board in BOIS or something) where a virus can live and is so, any ways to detect them in those areas? I just want to make sure that If I clean my hard drives (with like DBAN) that I don't have to worry about anything else having a virus.

 

[Chipeater]

Virus programs can be stored in secondary storage such as a hard drive, floppy disk, flash drive, or CD and DVD disks, just like other programs. (Of course, when a CD or DVD is closed after being written to it becomes read only.) Viruses can and do reside in RAM, but the virus programs are lost when the power is turned off.

Typically a computer virus is a program that can copy itself. If you think about it, where can programs be stored on your computer, and how are they stored there?

 

[Dngrsone]

Theoretically, malware can reside in the BIOS EEPROM, but considering the variety of hardware out there, it is highly unlikely someone would write code to do it.

Like Chipeater said, malware goes where it can copy itself; I've seen people reinfect themselves over and over again from backups or restore discs, and even once a kid managed to get some nasties on his .mp3 player and transferred it to a couple computers